On electron bunching and stratification of glow discharges

Journal Article · Tue Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4822921· OSTI ID:22218480

Golubovskii, Yuri B. ^[1]; Kolobov, Vladimir I. ^[2]; Nekuchaev, Vladimir O. ^[3]

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1. St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 198504 (Russian Federation)
2. CFD Research Corporation, Huntsville, Alabama 35805 (United States)
3. Ukhta State Technical University, Ukhta 169300 (Russian Federation)

Plasma stratification and excitation of ionization waves is one of the fundamental problems in gas discharge physics. Significant progress in this field is associated with the name of Lev Tsendin. He advocated the need for the kinetic approach to this problem contrary to the traditional hydrodynamic approach, introduced the idea of electron bunching in spatially periodic electric fields, and developed a theory of kinetic resonances for analysis of moving striations in rare gases. The present paper shows how Tsendin's ideas have been further developed and applied for understanding the nature of the well-known S-, P-, and R-striations observed in glow discharges of inert gases at low pressures and currents. We review numerical solutions of a Fokker-Planck kinetic equation in spatially periodic electric fields under the effects of elastic and inelastic collisions of electrons with atoms. We illustrate the formation of kinetic resonances at specific field periods for different shapes of injected Electron Distribution Functions (EDF). Computer simulations illustrate how self-organization of the EDFs occurs under nonlocal conditions and how Gaussian-like peaks moving along resonance trajectories are formed in a certain range of discharge conditions. The calculated EDFs agree well with the experimentally measured EDFs for the S, P, and R striations in noble gases. We discuss how kinetic resonances affect dispersion characteristics of moving striations and mention some non-linear effects associated with glow discharge stratification. We propose further studies of stratification phenomena combining physical kinetics and non-linear physics.

• OSTI ID: 22218480
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 10; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRONS
FOKKER-PLANCK EQUATION
GAUSS FUNCTION
GLOW DISCHARGES
KINETIC EQUATIONS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
PERIODICITY
PLASMA
PLASMA SIMULATION
PLASMA WAVES
RARE GASES
STRATIFICATION
STRIATIONS